Merry Christmas!

Last year, we made our own Advent Calendars. I posted about that here. And if you click on the Scribd button in the sidebar, I have posted it for you to print. Just think of it as an early Christmas gift!

Fall 09 Exams: part two

Kaytie's History Questions: (with a disclaimer: if you are not well-versed in American History, don't read this as a way to learn more or even to brush up. Don't read Nate's, either.)

What is the most interesting thing you have learned in History?

The story about the Pilgrims.

Tell what you know about Columbus.

He sailed to America. He sailed to where he thought was where America was, but actually it was where the Indians were, and he called it the Indies. He was before the Pilgrims. When he was a boy, he wanted to be a sailor. On his trip, there was a storm and sometimes they ran out of food, so they probably had to borrow food from other ships.

Tell what you know about the Pilgrims.

They sailed to America so that they can have freedom. They created the first Thanksgiving to celebrate what God done for them on their trip. They came to America for freedom, and they sailed on the Mayflower. And in America, they met Squanto, Massasoit, and I don’t remember the others. Massasoit was an Indian chief. Squanto was the only one that was alive who cleared the land after the terrible plague. When their harvest was plentiful, they decided to have a harvest feast.

Who was William Bradford?

He was the ship’s captain’s appearance. (I asked, "Are you sure about that?" "Definitely." She said.)

Tell the story of John Smith and Pocahontas.

One time, he was caught by the Indians, well, that was the first time. But he escaped, and then he got caught the second time, when he probably fell in one of their traps. And they took John Smith to Powhatan. He asked questions. And they nearly killed him, but Pocahontas, Powhatan’s daughter went and gathered his head in her arms and Powhatan proclaimed him as his brother.

Kaytie's music, grammar, and writing questions:

Who wrote the music we have listened to all term?

John Bach

What is the definition of a noun?

The definition of a noun is: a noun is a person, place, thing or idea.

What is the definition of a pronoun?

The definition of a pronoun is: a pronoun is a word that you use in place of a noun.

What pronouns take the place of your name?

Me, my, mine, and (this one gave her trouble, I told her, “Answer this questions in a complete sentence: 'Who are you?' which was all she needed to remember it.) I

What is the definition of a verb?

A verb is a word that links two verbs together, does an action, and helps another verb.

Make up a sentence and tell me which word is the noun, and which is the verb, are there any pronouns in your sentence?

I love giraffes.

Giraffes is the noun. I is also a noun. Love is the verb. I is a pronoun.

Write the sentence you made up. Be sure to use correct capitalization and spelling.

She did well with this, but I had to sound out the words love and giraffe for her.

Write your name.

She did well. We need to work on the spelling of the last name, and writing words backwards.

Nate's History Questions:

What is the most interesting thing you have learned in History?

About the Pilgrims because they were the first people to find America. (I did ask, before I could stop myself, “What about Columbus?” His answer, "Columbus was the first to find Central America, there is a difference." And I figured he had a point, so I left him alone.)

Tell what you know about Columbus.

Columbus sailed… he was the first one to find Haiti. And he sailed across the sea to Haiti and he thought he was in Spain, but he wasn’t. He was trying to find gold and silver.

Tell what you know about the Pilgrims.

They found America. They were the first to have the Thanksgiving feast. They met some friendly Indians. They came here on the Mayflower, which was a ship. There was a few storms.

Who was William Bradford?

I don’t know.

Tell the story of John Smith and Pocahontas.

One day Powhatan started bashing his head against a rock and Pocahontas stopped him. (And yes, I did manage to keep from laughing out loud.)

Nate's music, grammar and writing questions:

Who wrote the music we have listened to all term?

I forgot. (He only asked every. single. day. for three months: "Who wrote that music?" And he still doesn't know.)

What is the definition of a noun?

A noun is a person, place, thing or idea.

What is the definition of a pronoun?

A pronoun is a word you put in front of a noun… in place of a noun. And I hope the next question is Verbs.

What pronouns take the place of your name?

Me, my, I, and mine.

What is the definition of a verb?

A verb is a word that does an action. And a verb that does an action is a action verb.

Make up a sentence and tell me which word is the noun, and which is the verb, are there any pronouns in your sentence?

I put my cup in the sink.

Cup is a thing. Sink. Put. My and I.

Write the sentence you made up. Be sure to use correct capitalization and spelling.

He did not ask for help, except to have me repeat his sentence for him a couple of times.

Write your name.

Conclusions: I need to figure out a way to make History stories still a little more and we really need to work on spelling! However, First Language Lessons really works! You can tell they know their grammar!

Examinations for Fall Term 09

We are ending our school term with Mason-style exams. I have never done this before, and I really had no idea how it would go. Today, we did Bible and Geography, because we have basically finished those subjects, at least enough for them to answer the questions I had written. I started with Kaytie and she did very well. For their narrations, I typed as they talked and just put down exactly what they said. I did not correct even the most glaring of errors.

Exam questions for term one: Kaytie

Bible:

Retell in your own words the story of Joseph.

Joseph had a father that really liked him. And one day, I think it was on his birthday, his father gave him a coat of many colors. And after he gave him the coat, he said, “Your brothers have been out with the sheep a long time. Go see if they are ok.” And when his brothers saw him coming, he, they said, “Look, here comes the dreamer. And let’s get rid of him.” So when Joseph came up, they grabbed him and threw him in a pit. They took off Joseph’s coat. Then a camel train came by. It was traders and his brothers sold Joseph to the traders. “Not only were they getting rid of him,” they said. “We are also getting money.” And they tore off bits of Joseph’s coat and they dipped it in one of the sheep's blood. Rueben, who loved Joseph, too, was planning to rescue him, later, until they selled him while Rueben was off checking the sheep. And when he came back, and found out what happened, he was sad, but it was too late now. The traders took him to Egypt where he could interpret dreams with God’s power. He interpreted the baker and the cupbearer’s dreams. The baker’s meant that he was going to die and not get his job back. But the cupbearer’s meant that he would get his job back. And then he interpreted the king’s dream. Which meant 7 years of famine and 7 years of plenty. And he, Pharaoh, who was actually the king, put him in third command. And one day, on the 7 years of famine, the brothers of Joseph went to him and asked for food and he said, "You are spies." But and his brothers did not recognize him, but Joseph recognized his brothers. He said, "All of you should go in jail but one of you should go and get your smallest, your uh, little brother, and come back. If you don’t, then you are truly spies." And Simeon was the one who went and he asked his father, if he could go back with Benjamin. That’s all I remember.

Recite Psalm 148

She knew the first 3 verses, but then kind of grabbed phrases here and there.

Answer catechism questions

She did this perfectly!

Find three countries that we have studied on the map, and tell me three facts about each country.

She had no problems showing me three countries in our atlas.

United States:

1 The flag has red stripes, white stars and a blue square that the stars are on.

2 The bald eagle is the symbol.

3 There is very many houses, and most people aren’t very poor.

Mexico:

1 The kids play soccer, but instead of calling it soccer, they call it futbol.

2 The capital is Mexico City.

3 The flag is green, white and red. There is an eagle that caught a fish.

Brazil:

1 They grow Brazil nut trees.

2 They grow oranges.

3 Its capital is Brazilia.

From the list of countries that we have studied, tell which goes on which continent.

She got them all easily except for Argentina. But she remembered it when she saw it on a map.

Tell me your favorite country and why?

The United States because it is a free country.

Exam questions for term one: Nate

Retell in your own words the story of Joseph.

(This was difficult. I had to ask a lot of, "What happened then?" And at one point (right after the first sentence) I had to get very explicit: This can be a fight, which you will lose, or you can answer the question pleasantly and tell me what you remember, because I know you remember something.)

He got a new coat. His brothers didn’t like his dreams. His brothers threw him in a pit. And when his father found out, he cried. They gave him to some people going to Egypt. Potiphar threw him in jail. He helped two other people by explaining their dreams. The dreams were… the first one was the cupbearer was balancing three baskets on his head and birds were eating off the first one. It meant that Potiphar was going to stick a pole through him. The other guy got out of jail. Joseph helped Pharaoh, explained his dreams. His dreams meant that there was going to be seven years of food and seven years of bad food. Pharaoh let him out of jail. Joseph had a party because he got out of jail. He told them to collect one fourth of grain.

Recite Psalm 148

He said the first verse, then grabbed a few phrases.

Answer catechism questions

He mixed two up, but got the others perfectly.

Find three countries that we have studied on the map, and tell me one fact about each country.

He found them all easily.

United States

The flag has stars and stripes.

Canada

They eat popovers.

Brazil

They grow brazil nuts.

From the list of countries that we have studied, tell which goes on which continent.

He did this perfectly and much faster than Kaytie.

Tell me your favorite country and why?

Argentina because of how they talk.

From this exercise, I drew the following conclusions.

1. Five years old is a little young for narrations: especially for boys.

2. We need to spend a lot more time on our Scripture memory. I think next term we will say the entire passage every time instead of trying to work on one verse a week.

3. Kids have really good memories! And this method is kind of fun for everybody but five-year-old boys!

Daybook: Thanksgiving week

Out my window: is a beautiful, crisp, autumn day. The kids have been outside running races and timing themselves with an old watch they found in their toys. They come in cold and panting and flushed with the effort.

I am listening to: Sam the bird yelling at the kids; Nate making weird boy noises as he wipes off the table; Abbie waddling like a penguin (because she has to say "waddle waddle" or she doesn't feel penguin-like); Kaytie oohing over "my baby penguin", and Daniel banging on something.

I am thankful for: healthy, happy kids. We haven't been sick this year... staying home and staying outside has worked together to boost our immune systems and reduce our exposure. I think we are the only people in the world who haven't had the flu this fall.

From the kitchen: peanut-butter sandwiches for lunch and baked chicken for supper, or something with chicken.

I am creating: lesson plans for next term. We are all looking forward to a long month off of "school". Even though we will still be doing lots of schooly stuff, it will all be fun and Nativity-related, so none of us will be thinking of it as school. I have a list of things to be done before we take our exams and then we are free. I am also pushing hard to get my planning for next term out of the way so that I get some truly free time this month.

I am reading: Grace Based Parenting and Specials and Inkdeath. I always feel better about life in general when I have more than one book to read. :)

I am praying for: a job for my husband.

Around the house: thanks to birthday parties and Steve being home, and company, the house is nice and clean. I need to focus on laundry, and am looking forward to decorating this weekend!

One of my favorite things: Daniel's mischievous grin, the way Abbie curls up against me like a roly-poly bug every time I touch her (she is the most snuggly person ever),

little kids' laughter, planning for Christmas

A few plans for the rest of the week: finishing up school, celebrating Thanksgiving with family, and decorating for Christmas.

I am thinking: that parenting is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

I am going: grocery shopping at some point

From the learning rooms: birds' nests, Pilgrims, math games, action verbs, phonics, counting, matching, Japan, practicing for piano recital, and the story of Joseph.

A picture thought I am sharing: Our new 4 year old playing in the autumn leaves!

More Daybooks

Our New Four-Year Old

Of all of my kids, he has to be the hardest to describe. He is definitely inscrutable. He dislikes answering questions, but I don't know if that is because he is unsure of the answers, or if he just doesn't feel like sharing. If you ask him a question and he replies with a goofy noise or a silly laugh, you might as well give up right then, because it isn't going to get any better if you push him. I do know that he hates to be wrong. And he doesn't like to be laughed at unless he is intentionally being silly, and even then he is sensitive about it.

He is definitely sensitive. He has an incredibly tender little heart. He loves easily and is usually the first to share or to put someone else first. Once, when it was his turn to go alone with Daddy, he was given a package of M&Ms. When he got home, he had three M&Ms clutched in his hand. "You better eat those, Daniel." Daddy advised, but he shook his head, "They are for the kids." And he handed them out to his three siblings with a big grin, just delighted to be able to give.

But he hurts easily, too. He takes the rough-and-tumble of the pack harder than the others. His wounded bellow sounds out often, and he can be slow to forgive the slight.

Because of his soft heart, he often hides behind a tough exterior. Before he could talk, he was growling his affection at his daddy, like a tiny lion cub.

Another good word for him is "obsessed". When he loves, he does it with his whole being. First, it was fire trucks. And the sound of the siren still thrills his heart! When he hears the wail of the fire truck, he runs outside and plasters himself against the fence, straining for a glimpse.

Now, his obsessions are Thomas the Tank Engine (or any type of train, really) and snails. He can play for hours with his train set, if left alone. He always choses Thomas when it's his turn to pick a movie. And, in the summer, when he could find them, you could count on him having a snail in his hand. They were always named "Harvey", unless they were girls (apparently he could tell the difference) and then they were "Harvina". Names that he chose unassisted.

He hates being called a baby. He hates being treated differently than the older kids. He hates showers. He hates when someone else gets the last helping of supper.

He is incredibly smart, astonishingly verbal, and a great joke-teller. He is usually dirty, usually noisy, and always adorable.

And now, he is four.

Happy Birthday, Danny D!

Pattern Blocks

Pattern blocks are some of our favorite manipulatives. And over the years, we have used them in many different ways. The kids like to build with them, make pictures with them, and just generally free play with them.

This year, so far, we have used them to make pictures to copy.

We have practiced graphing with them.

We have used them to play roll-a-dice games.

We have cards that go with them, and we have copied the pictures both on and off the cards.

Off is a little more challenging, but do-able.

The next step up from pattern blocks is tanagrams. These are much more challenging, since the kids have to find, not just a triangle, but a triangle of the correct size, and then have to figure out how to place it in the picture correctly. Kaytie built this boat three times before she finally got it to look like the guide.

Totschool in the fall

These past couple of weeks, Totschool has been all about the ABCs and fall/pumpkins.

Abbie has been playing with letters. She likes to sort them by color.

She has also started sorting them by letter. She doesn’t know what the letters are called, but she knows she likes things to match, so she sorts out matches wherever she can find them.

She somewhat enjoys these ABC puzzles. I kept seeing these cool wooden puzzles all over the place, but I dislike buying things that aren’t multi-purpose. I finally had the idea to make them myself. I printed them on cardstock and added magnets to the back for extra fun, and to keep the puzzles together a little better.

She practiced her handwriting with our Before You Print wipe-off book.They LOVE this.

She sorted pumpkins by size. (These also have magnets on the back.)

She poked old cupcake decorations (pumpkins) into a styrofoam block.

She swept up pompoms.

She stacked pegs, and, of course, sorted them by color.

She built a pumpkin.

And stamped numbers. This was a challenge at first, but then she realized she was just matching,!

For more Totschool posts, go to Carissa's blog.

Phonics update

Daniel has been working very hard at learning his phonics lately. And the best part is: he has no idea! He thinks that Mommy is making up games just to spend time with him. :)

This idea originally came from something I read in one of Peggy Kaye's books. I don't exactly remember which one. (fair warning, you are probably going to get very tired of hearing about her soon!)

The game board is something I made up a long time ago for Nate for something or other. It's just your basic game board with firetrucks for spaces. I don't know if you can tell in the picture or not, but the firetrucks are numbered. Abbie was very put out with me because she thought it should be sheepies on the board and not firetrucks.

Along with the board, I put two erasers, which I got for the little kids when school started. The big kids got some, too, but they use theirs, and so they aren't in very good condition anymore. We also had a die, which they rolled, and we counted out the correct spaces and mentioned which number they landed on.

Now, here's the phonics part. I accepted Wal-mart's gracious offer of free paint chips, and tucked in my pocket enough to write the entire alphabet on (and more besides, but that's another game). I pulled out the letters on which we are currently working (a, b, c, d, e, f, g, and o, although not necessarily in that order), and put them in a stack. After they rolled and moved their marker, they drew a card (paint chip) and told me the name of the letter and the sound it makes.

The rules of the game are that if they only get to move forward if they get it correct, but they are still so new at this that we would NEVER get to the end if we played so strictly. So they attempted to "read" the card, and if they got it wrong, I would give them the correct answer, they would repeat it after me, and then we would go on.

After two rounds of the game, we learned that Abbie knows the sound of "b", although not it's name, and Daniel has "d" and "o" down pat. He is hit and miss on "a" "b" and "f" and has no clue on the others.

P.S: I got the paint chip idea from Snail's Trail.